US Tariffs on Clothing & Apparel

What This Covers

The clothing and apparel surcharge applies to garments, knitwear, woven clothing, and textile accessories classified under HTS chapters 61-62. This sector already carries some of the highest base tariff rates in the US schedule, averaging 16.5% before any additional surcharges are applied. After the Supreme Court struck down IEEPA reciprocal tariffs on February 20, 2026, all apparel-exporting countries now face a uniform 10% Section 122 tariff instead of the widely varying country-specific rates that ranged from 10% to 49%. This change represents enormous relief for major garment exporters that had faced some of the steepest reciprocal rates.

Most Affected Countries

China remains the most burdened apparel source due to Section 301 surcharges stacking on top of the 10% Section 122 rate, keeping Chinese garments significantly more expensive than alternatives. Vietnam, which had faced a punishing 46% IEEPA rate, now pays only 10% under Section 122 — a reduction that restores its competitiveness as a low-cost apparel manufacturing hub almost overnight. Bangladesh, the world's second-largest garment exporter, benefits from an even more dramatic drop, from 37% down to 10%, reinforcing its position as the go-to source for fast fashion and basics. India and Indonesia similarly see their rates collapse to the uniform 10%, reopening price-competitive sourcing from these markets.

How Surcharges Stack

Apparel tariff stacking has become substantially less severe following the SCOTUS ruling. A cotton shirt from Vietnam with a 16.5% base rate now faces only the additional 10% Section 122 tariff, for a combined rate of roughly 26.5% — compared to over 60% under the old IEEPA regime. For Chinese apparel, the 16.5% base rate stacks with Section 301 surcharges and the 10% Section 122 tariff, creating combined rates that still approach 50% on certain garment categories. Bangladesh-origin garments see their total burden drop to approximately 26.5% (16.5% base + 10% Section 122), down from over 53% under the old 37% IEEPA rate. USMCA-qualifying apparel from Mexico enters duty-free if it meets the yarn-forward rule of origin. Note that the Section 122 tariff expires around July 24, 2026.

Sourcing Strategies

The collapse of country-specific rate differentials has transformed apparel sourcing strategy. Bangladesh and Vietnam are once again the most cost-competitive Asian sourcing options, with their 10% Section 122 rate far below the old IEEPA rates that had threatened to make their production uneconomical. Nearshoring to Central America and Mexico under USMCA and CAFTA-DR agreements remains attractive for duty-free access, but the urgency of nearshoring has diminished now that Asian rates have normalized. Importers should build flexibility into contracts to account for the temporary nature of Section 122 — when it expires around July 2026, Asian source countries could face zero additional surcharges, fundamentally changing the cost calculus again.